Half Ghost Alchemist
by Chachi-chama
Summary: Danny has to do community service and coincidentally, he meets a hundred year old Ed. Ed starts to tell Danny stories about his past and Danny goes to the Ghost Zone to see if he could go to Ed's original home. He ends up being trapped there by mistake.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, I know that I have another story to work on but I finally have the idea of how I'm going to do this. For one thing it takes place in the after the first anime, and AFTER its movie. Also if anyone has seen Haragen kids why you'll know why Al isn't in this story, mainly because he wasn't mentioned in it. Oh ya, thoughts are in **_**italics.**_** So, here's the first chapter:**

**But first, the disclaimer: I don't own anything. I only have a mere computer, and my imagination.**

**Chapter 1**

It was the year 2005 and a blond haired, yellow eyed old man woke up after a pleasant dream of his original home. He had a mechanical arm and leg but, nobody knows why and how he lost his arm and leg, or where he even got such advanced, mechanical limbs. To his anger and dismay he woke up to a musty smelling retirement home. The man's name is Edward Elric. He's 100 years old and everyone thinks he's crazy. On the small occasions that he now talks, it's about of place where alchemy progressed instead of machinery. Where he traveled with an empty armored suit who called him, Nii-san or Brother. Where he had been a pretty well respected teen mainly because of his abilities. Sounds crazy huh?

Meanwhile, a raven haired teen with baby blue eyes was talking to an over weight, bald teacher. The boy was Danny Fenton, and the teacher, Mr. Lancer. Danny, of course, isn't just any average teen, if he was, then this story probably would be pretty meaningless and a waste of time. The boy had in fact, ghost powers and a, you could say, split personality. He is none other than the infamous ghost Inviso—oops, sorry, I mean, Danny Phantom. The same Danny Phantom, one might add, who is hated by mostly everyone in town even though he only tries to do good.

"-but Mr. Lancer I-" Danny tried to explain.

"No buts. This is the only other way that I'm going to let you pass this class, and if you don't pass at least this class, you'll have to be held back! You only have to do 40 hours of community service," interrupted Mr. Lancer.

"Why?" asked Danny. He began thinking; _I already do a heck of a lot of 'community service' already…_

"Because, I told every one that doing community service would count as extra credit, and right now Daniel, you need a lot of extra credit to pass. Understand?"

"Fine." Danny grunted. _Well, mine as well get started then…_ "Uh…Mr. Lancer? Can you tell me about any places that I could go?"

Mr. Lancer smiled and nodded, "There's a retirement home not to far away, down the block I believe. All you have to do is keep the elderly company because some of them don't get visitors."

Danny nodded and ran out to get a head start. He finally reached the doors and entered but was hit with a wave of what smelled like a hospital that had a really bad air freshener. _Ugh…how could anyone stay here? Well…at least it doesn't smell like Foley...by Tucker Foley. _He chuckled a little bit. At that very moment, Ed walked in and seeing as though Danny wasn't really paying any attention to what he was doing, he ran into him.

"Hey kid! Watch where you're going will ya? Dammit…kids these days…" he muttered…no wait, yelled angrily in a dry raspy voice.

"Sorry dude. Um, I wasn't watching where I was going." Danny apologized. _And people think that I'm angry all the time…_ Ed walked away still muttering curses under his breath and Danny sighed as he walked to Information Desk. Behind the table was a younger woman, no older than 20 with blond hair in a pony tail and reddish brown eyes. She had a slightly solemn look on her face but quickly changed when she saw Danny.

"Hi! Welcome to Old Times Retirement center!" she said with extremely fake, enthusiastic cheer.

"Um, hi. Uh, I have to do community service for school and my teacher told me to come here and um…" Danny's voice trailed off.

"And you need something to do?" she finished off for him.

"Yeah. So, uh, what can I do here?"

"Well, I'll just assign you to one of the people who stay here and, well just keep that person company." She said while typing something into the computer. "But first I'll need your first and last name, phone number, and home address."

"Oh sure, Danny, Fenton, 856-555-1221, Fenton Works…can't miss it."

"All right, all done and here's the room number and name of the person you'll be assigned to." She handed him a piece of paper with the room number, 100 and the name Edward Elric. Danny thanked the woman and walked around trying to find the room. At last he found the room and knocked.

"What the hell do you want?" answered a familiar voice.

_Oh crap…not this guy again…please tell me I'm hearing things, and mistaking this guy's voice for _that _that guy's voice._ Danny knocked again without answering. He heard a loud thump, then some kind of mechanical sound coming from inside and eventually the door opened.

"What do you want?" the older man asked.

"Um, sorry, I'm Danny Fenton and I have to do community service for school and I-"

"I don't need your life story just tell me what you want."

"The lady told me that I have to keep a guy called, 'Edward Elric' company."

"Did she now…" he looked at Danny for a few moments. "So you can't leave at all?"

Danny shook his head, "I wouldn't be here if I could, but I really need the hours."

Ed sighed, "You well, seeing as though I don't have a choice…call me Ed. Just how long until you leave?"

"In a few hours…"

Suddenly, he caught sight Ed's hand. It wasn't gloved like it usually was so he could see that his hand was metal. Danny couldn't help but stare. He had never seen anything that was so intricate. Ed noticed that he was staring at it, rolled his eyes and said, "What?" he waved his hand around a little, "Never seen a metal arm before? Well, if you have to stick around, you have to get used to it."

"What happened to your arm?" Danny asked, slightly curious. He was going to have to make the best of the time he had to spend here so, why not try and start a conversation?

"Are you sure you want to know? It's a pretty long story." He looked slightly saddened.

"I'm guessing you lost it during a war right?"

Ed smirked, "No. Actually, my brother and I tried to bring our mother back from the dead."

**Edited July 12, 2010**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything sorry.**

**Chapter 2**

"**No actually. My brother and I tried to bring our mother back from the dead."**

"You're kidding me right? You know that's impossible."

Ed smirked, _so, he's just like one of them. The idiots who stuck me in this godforsaken place._ "Not where I'm from."

Danny became even more curious and asked, "What do you mean?"

_Jeez, this kid just doesn't give up! Oh well, seeing as though he hasn't called me crazy or nuts, yet, I guess I could tell him a little about Amestris. _"Well, if you really want to know, then come in and have a seat. It's going to be a long story."

Danny nodded and walked in. The room was pretty plain but there were a few drawings hung up by tacks on the walls. All of them were basically the same though, a circle with stuff inside them. There were also a few pictures on the wall too. Most of them had a picture of Ed with someone that was slightly taller than him, but looked a lot like him. Danny assumed he must've been related. Besides all of these there was a simple table, two chairs, and a small bed.

"Well, uh, have a seat. Sorry, I'm not used to having visitors. The only visitor I had was my little brother Al…but he died just a few years ago." His eyes hardened as he remembered the last days he was able to spend with him. "Anyway," he seemed to snap back to reality, "When I was younger, my dad left not long after my brother was born. My mom raised us both…and those were the happiest years of our life. Well, one day we came home and found her passed out on the ground. Turned out that she was suffering from a sickness for a long time. She died a little while afterwards…and we had known that it might've been possible to bring her back with alchemy." Ed paused and glanced at Danny, expecting him to look disbelieving. He was somewhat surprised that he was still listening expectantly.

Ed continued, "See, me and my brother were really good at alchemy. Mom said we were 'definitely _his _sons'. So, we found a teacher that trained us with and eventually we thought we'd learned enough to try it.

"We gathered up most of the ingredients for a human being and began the process. We thought that everything was going great but then, everything went wrong. I realized that we didn't have all of the ingredients for a human. We didn't have a soul to finish the equivalent exchange. I looked beside me and my brother was being taken by a bright light and I tried to save him. I turned back and saw that my left leg was being broken apart. Then I sacrificed my right arm to save my brother's soul. I attached it to a suit of armor and well our journey to restore our bodies started.

"The thing is, even trying to bring back a person who died is a huge taboo. It's called 'human transmutation'. We were punished, but we were still lucky…seeing as though I'm still here today.

"After a few years we found a way to restore our bodies but, millions of people had to die so that we could. We eventually found it but my brother became it. Al was almost sacrificed and I died."

"Okay now I'm lost. If you said that you died then how are you talking to me?" Danny asked. _Could he be a ghost? If he is then why hasn't my ghost sense gone off?_

Ed smiled, "My brother pulled me back, but he was gone when I woke up. I had my arm and leg again. My friend Rose told me about what happened and why I was still alive. I told her to get out of the place that we were in and to take a boy who had my arm and leg with her because he basically ended up just like I was…well, he lost my arm and leg after we'd fought. So, I sacrificed my life for him and ended up in this world in which I had thought was a dream at until a certain point.

"For two full years I didn't know what happened to him. Along the way I met a guy who looked a lot like Al and his name was Alphonse which, coincidently, was my brother's full name. Anyway, I met up with my brother here, he was partially attached to a suit of armor, and we were able to talk. We opened the Gate and I was able to go back home for a little while. I even able to meet up with an old friend who gave me this arm and leg I have today." He paused again to pull up his sleeve. Danny was amazed. Ed smirked again and continued, "An idiot from this world wanted to take over my world and started killing everyone and everything in her path. Al and I saved the world and I told him to stay there to destroy that part of the gate. He didn't and well, we were finally able to destroy it after so many years…So, I think that's about it." Ed waited for Danny to say something like, 'you're crazy!' 'You've gone nuts!' or just laugh hysterically like many have so many time before. Danny simply stared and seemed to believe everything that he had said.

"Whoa, dude. Talk about a hard life! How old are you?"

Completely taken by surprise, he answered, "100 years old exactly. Why?"

"Whoa! I thought you were a little younger! I mean you don't look all wrinkly and I thought you were only like, 60 or something."

_This kid's pretty strange…not that I'm not but no one's ever reacted like him, _thought Ed. "Hey kid."

"My name's Danny Fenton."

_Why does that sound so familiar…I could swear I've heard that name somewhere…_ "Yeah whatever. Usually people think I'm crazy when I tell my life's story. That's why I'm stuck in the goddamned place. Did you actually believe me?"

"Well, my parents are crazy ghost hunters so, I guess, anything's possible right?" Danny replied.

_That's it! There's a ghost called Danny Phantom that helps this town!_ He paused for a moment to look at Danny. He may not talk to anyone, but he sure heard the rumors. He even read the paper every once in a while. Sans the hair and the eyes, the two looked exactly the same."Hey Danny, you said that your parents are ghost hunters didn't you?"

Danny nodded slowly. "Yeah, why?"

"I don't know, but you do know about that ghost kid that helps the town right?"

Danny nodded even slower, failing to hide the fear in his eyes. Ed might've been old, but nothing got past his eyes.

Noticing the fear, he knew he hit the nail on the forehead. "You're Danny Phantom aren't you."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: …I'm really tired of typing this…but oh well, I guess I already have…I still don't own anything.**

**Chapter 3**

"**You're Danny Phantom aren't you."**

Danny was shaking almost uncontrollably now. This old man, some random guy, has figured out his deepest, darkest, most secretest secret!

"W-why do you say that? I-I'm n-not…I'm not Danny Phantom!" he managed to stutter out.

Ed smirked, _I'm right. But then again…when have I not been?_ "Well, when I think about it, the pictures I've seen kind of hints toward it. The hair style, the face, even your build…those similarities are way too close to be mere coincidences. Plus, the fact that you actually believe me and the fact that your parents are ghost hunters makes it seem like you must have gone through an experiment that went completely, and utterly wrong. Trust me. I know what that's like." He said, gestured towards his arm and leg. But then, Ed thought, _Or maybe, it was an experiment that went completely, and utterly right._

Danny was on the verge of twitching uncontrollably. He was going to give it one more try to unconvinced him before breaking down and begging him to not tell the cops or parents or someone. "But th-that doesn't really m-mean th-that I'm the ghost boy!"

"Oh come on Danny! Stuttering is just proving that I'm right! Admit it." Ed couldn't help it. He liked being right. I mean, who doesn't?

Danny pleaded, "Fine…I'm the ghost boy. But, please don't tell anyone! You may be one of the only ones that think I help the town…but there's way more people in this town that think I'm still the villain!"

Ed nodded agreeing. He could understand why Danny was trying to keep it a secret…but how couldn't anyone else notice? By his family, by his friends, heck, doesn't Phantom usually show up around a school? Wouldn't someone notice after a while that Danny Fenton had disappeared, only for Danny _Phantom_ to re-appear? Wouldn't one of his school mates notice? His appearance wasn't that different from the ghost boy. Wouldn't it be blatantly obvious after a little while? Heck, scratch the 'little', it was overly obvious after speaking to him for just a few hours. "Alright, I'll keep it a secret for you, seeing as though you believe my life's story. Think of it as 'equivalent exchange'."

Danny sighed, relieved. At least this guy wasn't going to tell anyone about his secret…but he was still curious about this old man. "Thanks. I could tell you about my powers…if you want…but only if you tell my a little bit more about alchemy. You know, like an equivalent exchange."

Ed looked at Danny for a second. After that second, he started laughing. Ed hadn't laughed like that for so long, he pretty amazed. Danny, on the other hand, looked flabbergasted. "I'm sorry Danny, it's just…you're an interesting kid. You know that?"

Danny sighed again. Many people had told him this. Some were after his head because he was considered, 'interesting'.

Ed calmed down after a minute or two and finally stopped laughing, but the good humor never left his face. "Sure thing, but why would you want to know? It's completely useless on this side of the Gate."

This time, Danny smiled. "I have my reasons…" He paused and asked, "So, do you want me to tell you now or tomorrow? I'm running out of time. Visiting hours are going to be ending soon."

"Nah. I can't really wait until tomorrow. Just tell me as much as you can right now," Ed's curiosity resurfacing.

"Ok well…if you're sure," he looked at Ed's face and decided to continue. "When I was fourteen, my parents built a really strange machine. They tried to turn it on but it didn't really work so they just quit. Then my friends, mainly Sam, convinced me to go inside of it. Suddenly there was a flash and I guess I pressed something, but I didn't know what it was 'cause I fell unconscious. Well, when I woke up, I looked in the mirror and saw that my hair turned white and my eyes were glowing green. It was kinda cool, but then my parents almost caught us.

"So, I started fighting ghosts 'cause they kept escaping through the ghost portal. Then one day, this weird ghost that's obsessed with the rules went and framed me and made it seem like I was an evil ghost! I'm sure you've heard about it though. The whole mayor thing and stuff."

Ed nodded.

"Well, then there was a huge ghost invasion and finally was able to earn some people's trust…and when people stopped calling me Inviso-Bill. By the way thanks for calling me Danny Phantom. I hate the name Inviso-Bill." He said Inviso-Bill with the imaginary quotation marks.

Ed chuckled, "No problem Danny." It was kind of luck though, he had been watching the television at just the right moment, and heard him shout it quite loudly. His mind automatically filed it away, but he'd never thought he'd ever need to remember it. He knew how annoying it had been to be called something other than your name.

"Well I guess that's about it."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "I'm sorry but visiting hours are over. You'll have to come again tomorrow."

_Dang it! I didn't get to learn any alchemy today…but maybe I can still come tomorrow, _thought Danny. "Can I still come tomorrow? I mean, you still have to teach me about alchemy right?"

"Well, I did promise you that I would, and I'm a man of my word…so, sure you can come back tomorrow."

"Cool! Thanks Ed. I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Danny raced out the door, and he soon was out and in fresh air again. Even though he didn't mind Ed's room, and he even liked being around Ed, it was still a retirement home. And retirement homes smelled horrible. He grabbed out his cell phone and called Sam.

"Hello? Danny?" said a familiar voice coming from the receiver.

"Hey Sam, sorry for leaving right after school but I had to do something for Mr. Lancer so that he could pass me."

"Oh, it's cool. So what's up?"

"Nothing but I was wondering if you and Tucker could meet me at my house."

"Sure Danny. Be there in about ten minutes! Bye!"

"Bye!"

**Edited July 12, 2010**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:…does it look like I won anything? My name's Danitonfen13 not Butch Hartman or Hiromu Arakawa so, I can't own DP or FMA…alright?**

**Chapter 4**

They had finally arrived at Danny's house in, pretty strangely, exactly ten minutes. Danny told them everything that happened and Tucker almost shouted when Danny finished. "Dude, the guy's off his rocker!"

Danny and Sam glared at Tucker and all he could manage to say was, "What?" and shrug his shoulders.

"Look, I know all this sounds really crazy and everything but I believe him. Plus, he promised to keep my secret, a secret. Also, think about. If he was really crazy, then how the heck did he figure out my secret?"

"What Tucker probably means is that, maybe he's one of those…you know, mad scientists. Vlad's pretty crazy himself, and he isn't some idiot," Sam offered up. Even though she wanted to believe the story Danny had told them, she still had her doubts.

Danny shook his head, "Nah, he isn't like that. Don't all mad scientists have some kind of weird tick or something? Plus, everything would make sense if science advanced in different ways than machines and technology."

"Or maybe somebody told him," said Tucker. Unlike Sam, he didn't believe any bit of Ed's story. "There's no way alchemy could've advanced more than technology! That's crazy! They wouldn't have gotten far! Seriously dude, why do you think he's in there? His family probably thought that he's crazy and can't take care of himself anymore."

Danny's eye twitched, "I doubt anyone that we know would've told him. They'd sooner go to the police and turn me in than tell someone else. Plus, everyone there seemed to stay away from him. No one would bother going up and telling him anything." Danny paused a little, "He figured out. I guess he's one of the few people in this town that is actually smart enough to figure out that I've been bustin' my butt out there to save them." He then gestured to his arm, "And you guys didn't see his arm and leg. They were more advanced than anything I'd ever seen. He couldn't have gotten them here, and if his old world had stuff like that, it'd be obvious that they were getting along fine technology-wise."

Sam decided to believe what Danny said. They had seen a lot of things in the past, why couldn't something like alchemy exist somewhere else? Tucker on the other hand, was still unconvinced. It was probably because he couldn't imagine a way for computers to exist if alchemy continued any longer than it did.

"So, whether or not you guys believe me, I have a plan to help Ed out," Danny stated. "Would you be willing to help me with it?"

Sam nodded but Tucker didn't. Sam jabbed Tucker in the stomach and with a loud 'Ow!' and a lot of pain, Tucker nodded too. Danny smirked. Heck, it would be pretty funny if you're best friend got jabbed in the stomach with the elbow by your girlfriend.

"Cool, come on, we have to go into the ghost portal."

Tucker, Sam, and Danny snuck downstairs into the basement. Danny opened the portal and went ghost while Sam and Tucker stood next to the Specter Speeder.

"Ready guys?" he asked.

"Sure, we're ready to go, but would you mind filling us in on what we need to do?" Sam asked. Danny had yet to tell them anything and it left both she and Tucker were completely confused.

"Good. Now, we're going to look for a big, creepy door. It probably looks ancient and, I don't know, maybe a weird vibe. Ed called it 'The Gate' just to let you know."

"Wait, I think I could look it up. Hold on." Sam said as she jumped out and walked to the computer and typed in 'the gate'. Much to her chagrin, thousands of things popped up. "Danny, could you be a little more specific? 'The Gate' is a way to common phrase."

Danny nodded and thought for a moment. "How 'bout you try big, creepy, and ancient door?"

Sam looked at Danny incredulously. "Are you serious?"

Danny looked at her innocently. "What? You said to be more specific. I was!"

"You know, he did get somewhat more specific," Tucker laughed. A second later, both boys had huge lumps on their heads and were cowering away from Sam.

She sighed and tried something different. She typed in 'the gate, alchemy'. "Okay, here we go. It says that there are things that live inside the gate and have been known for asking for payment in order to see into it. It goes on to say that if one wants to go through it, a life has to be sacrificed!" she felt a shiver go up her spine. She looked back at Danny and he shrugged. She continued to read, "It also says that it's the gateway to a place called Amestris! Hey Danny! Isn't that where you said Ed said he's from?"

Danny nodded.

"It also says that there were two gates, but," Sam's eyes widened as she almost whispered, "One of them was destroyed by Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric. The other one still exists in the ghost zone but neither of the men could find it, because they couldn't find a way to get to it."

"Whoa dude. I take it back. Maybe this guy isn't that crazy…" Tucker said staring at the monitor.

Danny was too surprised and shocked to say anything. "I was thinking that maybe if we found Ed's home then maybe we could bring him back."

"What?" Tucker and Sam yelled in unison. "Danny! Didn't you hear what I just read? It can kill people if they pass through!"

Danny shrugged again. "I'm already half-dead, maybe it won't count nearly as much. Plus, Ed's alive, and on this side. There must be a way to there without having to kill something."

"At least wait until Ed teaches you some alchemy," she begged. "That way we can get to the other side without killing anything, like you said. And…you won't look as clueless as you do here if we get to the other side." said Sam.

"We?" asked Danny.

"Well yeah, you can't expect us to let you go by yourself this time. Remember last time?" she exclaimed.

Danny grimaced, then sighed, then nodded, "Okay, fine. I'll wait."

**Edited July 12, 2010**


	5. Chapter 5

**It's been a really…REALLY long time huh? I'm really sorry…I know that you'd have to be incredibly patient to stick around, or maybe you're new and decided to read. Either way, I can't believe that I was finally able to update this thing. Really. I can't. I'm not sure how long it'll take to write the next chapter, but I know this for a fact…it won't take nearly as long to update. I swear it. I even edited a few of the older chapters. Those will be up soon after this is done.**

**And I have to say this to anyone who actually did wait for so long to read this…well…thank you. I really am grateful.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own everything but how this story will continue on. So don't sue me.**

**Chapter 5**

The next day, Danny could barely wait until after school. _C'mon, c'mon…Ring bell, RING,_ thought Danny. Suddenly, as if following his wishes, the bell rang. Danny raced through the door, completely ignoring Mr. Lancer's yelling at him, Tucker and Sam's shouting for him to wait up, even Dash's death threats. Soon, he reached the doors to the nursing home and ran into Ed again!

"Hey watch it! Wait, Danny? God, this is the second time you've ran into me!" he said, slightly annoyed.

"Sorry Ed, I just could wait for you to teach me alchemy! You are still going to teach me right?" Danny begged, even adding the puppy dog pout along with it while the walked back to Ed's room.

_That just ain't right!_ Thought Ed but said aloud, "Yeah, I promised didn't I? Just promise me one thing, don't do that creepy look again!"

Danny laughed, "Okay, so, what are you going to teach me today?"

"How about we fight first?" Ed suggested when they finally reached the room and closed the door.

Danny tried hard to not laugh…that didn't work. "You serious? It just doesn't sound right! I mean, you're like a hundred years old, people would notice, and my powers, there's no spa-"

"What, are you scared? I admit there's no space in here but that's it. Think you could help with that?"

"What do you mean?"

Ed smacked himself in the forehead with his hand and said with his head facing the ground but his eyes staring at him and said, "Use your powers to go somewhere that's uninhabited so we can fight there."

"Oh! Okay! You might wanna close your eyes."

"Fine."

"Okay, goin' ghost!" He shouted fairly quietly. He closed his eyes as two bright rings surrounded his body and as they moved up and down his body, his clothes, hair and eyes changed. First, his t-shirt and jeans were replaced by black spandex with his D with the P in the middle insignia. His shoes became white and reached to almost his knees, with the same colored gloves on his arms which almost reached his elbows. Lastly his hair became snow white. Ed opened his eyes before Danny did, so when Danny opened his eyes Ed was slightly shocked. His pale, baby blue eyes became bright, neon green.

He floated over and grabbed Ed by the shoulders and turned them both intangible and invisible. Ed's, for lack of better words, tummy felt funny. Danny noticed Ed's reaction and said, "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

Danny lifted Ed into the air and although Ed's been thrown through the air more times than he could count, and has been in an airplane or two, he had never experienced real flying. It was pure joy. Words can't even explain it. Just think of meeting your favorite band, or achieving your life's dream, or anything, just make that a thousand times better.

Danny had finally found an open space with no one around. No houses, no people, no cars, no smoke, no nothing. Well, except for a small stream for them to drink from when they were done. Ed and Danny landed and Ed walked away. Again, the bright rings returned. As they moved up the black and white spandex was replaced a white t-shirt with red bands on the end of his sleeves and red circle where his emblem would be in his ghost mode. Next his black spandex was replaced with light blue jeans, and his shoes with red and white converse looking ones. Lastly, his hair became raven black and his eyes, a light, baby blue.

"I thought it'd be unfair if I fought you in my ghost mode, with the ghost strength and all." Danny explained.

Ed chuckled, "You really think I'm that bad do ya? Well then, let's find out!"

Ed ran straight at Danny at full speed, stop suddenly and swipe kicked him to the ground. Danny could barely see it coming, let alone guard it. Danny flew backwards through the dirt.

"Ow…" Danny said, getting up shakily. "Alright, looks can be deceiving," he muttered.

Ed laughed. "Come on! I haven't had a chance to fight in a while, I could use the practice!"

Danny ran towards him and jumped up to tackle him. Ed laughed again and moved his hands to grab Danny's arms, and flipped over his head. Danny landed on his back, but he quickly jumped back on his feet because end was about to land a foot fight in his face. He was able to dodge his kick, however his back was to Ed. Danny spun around to face him, but Ed had disappeared. He felt someone tap him on the shoulder and was met with Ed's fist that was aiming for his face. Danny was able to put up his arms to block his face, but flew back several feet.

This continued on for a few minutes, as Danny tried to land a hit on Ed. Each time Danny tried, he somehow landed either on his back, his stomach, or…his face. After a little while longer, Danny was sitting on his butt, exhausted. At this point, Ed decided to call it a day.

"You really suck, you know that?" Ed said as he dragged Danny over to the stream. "You couldn't even beat a really old, defenseless man like me."

Danny glared tiredly at Ed after he was able to take a drink of water, "Most old people aren't from different worlds and aren't able to stand, let alone flip anyone over their heads!"

Ed laughed, "You are lucky though, I'm not as fast as I used to be. You're even luckier 'cause I'm was never as strong as my teacher…and she was often sick!" Ed looked up, with a smile on his face and stared at the clouds. He started remembering his life when he was still home. The times spent with his mother, meeting his teacher during that storm, traveling with his brother…seeing Winry one last time. For the first time since his brother died, he felt a wave of nostalgia hit him.

It was quiet for a while, and Danny decided to drop the glare and noticed that, although Ed had a cheerful smile on his face, his eyes screamed everything but happiness.

"Ed?" he asked somewhat quietly.

Ed blinked for a second and came back to reality. He looked at Danny and noticed that he looked worried. He smirked, "Eh? Sorry Danny, I was just thinking about some things. By the way, you showed me a few of your powers, so why don't I tell you a little about alchemy?"

Danny perked up and, having such a short attention span, he nodded excitedly.


	6. Chapter 6

…***inches in* H-hey…guys…! Er…how's it-dodges milk—right. So…yeah. Sorry 'bout the length of time between my updates…I told you I had some writer's block…and who knew that procrastinating on a final project would cure it so easily? /shot**

**So yeah…kind of a longer chapter than usual (not super long…but longER). I'll write more at the bottom…but first…enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I've been writing this stuff fer five years guys…I still don't own ANYTHING. Except the plot…even though 'twas the plot bunnies' fault…**

Ed blinked for a second and came back to reality. He looked at Danny and noticed that he looked worried. He smirked, "Eh? Sorry Danny, I was just thinking about some things. By the way, you showed me a few of your powers, so why don't I tell you a little about alchemy?"

Even though Danny quickly nodded, he still noticed a glint of sadness in Ed's eyes. It wasn't as bad as the first day that he'd met him, but it was still there. _"Loneliness. That's what it is. He misses his home and family."_

Danny mentally sighed, and decided he'd wait to ask him about his home, and decided it would be better if he learned about alchemy first. He'd noticed there was a small gleam of happiness in his eye when he remembered that much.

"Alright! So, where should I start…" Ed replied, rubbing his hands together. He paused for a moment to think.

"How about what it is?" asked Danny, but decided to say a little bit more under the incredulous look Ed gave him. "I mean, I know there's stuff like changing stuff into gold and stuff…but that's all I know."

Ed continued to give him an amused stare, and Danny felt himself blush a little. Hey, it wasn't like alchemy was common knowledge anymore. It died out long before he was ever born!

Ed noticed how uncomfortable Danny was getting and shook his head, "Alright, so alchemy is…well, part of it is changing 'stuff into gold', even though it was illegal where I lived." He smirked once more, thinking about past adventures, but continued, "But it's also about changing one substance into another. And the biggest rule of alchemy is that of equivalent exchange."

Danny looked confused. Ed had mentioned it the day before, but he hadn't really thought it was so important. He was about to ask what it was, but Ed interrupted his thought, "Humankind cannot obtain anything without first sacrificing something. In order to obtain anything something of equal value is required. That is Alchemy's law of equivalent exchange." He stated, as if reciting something from long ago.

Danny nodded and thought out loud, "And since nothing could ever equal a human soul, you and your brother had to give up parts of your body for a mere body to come alive for seconds."

Ed looked at him curiously, but nodded too. "Yeah, that's right." _This kid's pretty smart._

"Then…uhm, how do you actually do alchemy?" Danny asked. _It's kinda like the theory about mass equaling energy or something…wait…how did I know that?_

Ed smirked, "That is where the actual studying comes in. But, for now I'll just tell you that you need an alchemy circle, and energy, and that energy must be equal to the energy needed to transmute whatever you want to transmute."

"But…if you need a certain amount of energy to transmute something…would trying to transmute a human soul take a lot of energy? If equivalent exchange is true…then wouldn't you need some sort of sacrificial life, someone that is living, in order to bring something back from the dead?" Danny asked, thoughtfully.

Ed was stunned. It had taken him _years_ to figure out what Danny had put together in a few seconds. "Y-yeah. Jeez kid, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you've know a lot more than you're lettin' on! How'd you figure that out?"

Danny flushed a little. "Well…if you think about it, a human soul is made up of energy. It isn't something physical, so I don't think it's some sort of matter. And when you think of ghosts, they're considered to be the souls of those who stayed behind right? Well, I've found out through my fights that the more energy a ghost has…the more solid it becomes, the less, the further it fades into nonexistence. And…well, I've also found out that because I'm still half-living, I'm a lot more powerful than the normal full-ghosts. I guess…it would make sense that a living person would have more energy than a dead person…and you could use that energy to bring someone dead…back to life."

Ed blinked. _This kid's pretty smart! Why did he have to do this for extra credit though?_ "You got it right again, kid. Although, I didn't know about the half-living part-since you are the first person I've met who's like that-but yeah. You said you were doing this for extra credit, right?" Danny nodded. "Why do you need it? It looks like you're smart enough to get good grades, or at least sharp enough to put two and two together with this kind of thing."

"Er…well, not really. My friends always call me 'oh clueless one'." Danny chuckled and threw in some air quotes for good measure. "But, it doesn't help that most of the time, the ghosts keep me up at night because I have to fight them and by the time I get to class, I'm either half asleep or fighting some other ghost." Danny paused to think again. "And since I was a bit of a slacker before…well, I usually scraped by with B's and low A's…I'm not nearly as smart as my sister though."

"Danny, what you just put together in seconds…it took me years to figure out," Ed paused. "Even then, I only found out that you need hundreds of _dead_ souls in order to set one's body back to normal. Whether or not your sister is smart, you are a lot smarter than what you credit yourself for."

This time, Danny blinked. No one had really told him that he was that smart, especially when compared to his sister, of course Ed hadn't met her yet so he probably wouldn't keep the same opinion for too long. However, it was a nice feeling for someone to congratulate him. "Er…thanks. Well, it's probably 'cause I've had experience with the dead…and coming back from the dead…so…"

Ed shook his head, _kid's a little too modest for his own good. Probably has a hero complex._ He smirked at himself. _Now that sounds kind of familiar…_ "Now then, where were we?"

"We were talking about energy and, uh, trans…something," Danny replied.

"Ha ha ha, of course! Well…" Ed laughed, but looked around and noticed it was getting dark. He smirked again. "Well, I'd continue, but it looks like it's gotten a little late. The nurses might've noticed we've disappeared.

Danny blinked again. _Shoot!_ "Ah man, if I don't get us back soon, I'll be late for dinner! I'll carry you back then!"

Danny transformed back into his ghost form and carried Ed back to the nursing home. He used his intangibility to go a little faster, but was a little winded when he dropped Ed off. They agreed to meet up at the same time the next day, but before Danny left, Ed drew him something on a piece of paper.

"This may be skipping a few steps, but here. It's a very simple transmutation circle. You can try and draw it on your own and see if you can make something happen in this world," Ed explained at the door. "It might work for you because you have a different type of energy than most others in this world."

Danny looked at the paper closely. It had two circles, on inside the other. There were also two squares inside the outer circle. It was simple, but maybe Sam could show him how to draw it perfectly later.

Danny smiled and took it, "Thanks Ed! I'll see you tomorrow then!" Ed nodded and waved as Danny walked out. He knew he had ran around the corner and transformed to fly home.

It had been quite a day.

**Anti-climactic chapter is suuuuuper anti-climactic. Sorry if y'all were expectin' somethin' crazy to happen in this chapter…it's kind of a filler chapter…but I did put in a bit of a smart Danny (will explain in a sec). I can't say if the next update will come soon…or in another year…but at least I'm tryin'…neh? My muse suddenly re-appeared…an' I pretty much just did this all in about an hour. *crazy…neh?* I'm really sorry that I haven't updated this in so long…I'll make a more formal update on my profile in a bit if y'all wanna see what's been takin' so long (plus there was a bit o' an announcement on there from 'round October. I'll keep typin' when I get an idear, but until the next update…I'll see you later!**

**Oh! And as fer the smart Danny…well, I always thought that Danny wasn't so much as stupid…but clueless and awkward. It takes a lot to come up with witty banter in the middle of a fight, I can barely even do that in a normal conversation! Plus! His parents are geniuses (one more obvious than the other…look…while Jack acts like a total doofus, he DID help create most of the gadgets seen throughout the show…and most of them WORKED…with some opposite effects…but…yeh know what I mean). I think Danny's a lot like his dad in that sense. **


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